I think I might have been dressed as one of the Chicago Bears, circa Superbowl Shuffle. Leener is Rainbow Brite, and Antron is a cowboy.
This year, I was thinking of being Mrs. Whatsit. You know, from A Wrinkle in Time. Hopefully it’ll be a dark and stormy night, and we can heat some milk on the stove in a pan. I could sew a plastic ant to the hem of my skirt.
This weekend was the last in a long string of events that PROVE that Jason and I are married. We certainly are now, after a long weekend on the farm, complete with a Green wedding reception (one that includes the community center and an announcement in the paper in lieu of sending invitations).
I’ve learned that going to my own wedding reception is hard, because I know everyone there, and they’re all there because of me, and I can’t spend enough time with any of them. Awwwwkward. Oh well. There was cheesecake, so that makes up for it. A little.
On the upside, it was fun to see lots of relatives and friends, and to hang out on the farm, and eat HyVee chinese and Hungry Hobo subs (comfort foods) and Exotic Thai (high-quality comfort food) and scratch John Edwards behind his ear. (He is a dog.)
Pictures to come.
Madeleine L’Engle is dead, long live Madeleine L’Engle.
She introduced me to tessering 
in A Wrinkle in Time, and provided me with a quote that lived on my wall in high school and college. (Frustratingly, I can’t remember it, nor can I find it in the Interslice.)
Last night, Jason and I drove to Boston, and on the way, I read aloud the first two chapters of WiT. The consensus was that Charles Wallace, in all his infinite wisdom, is a little annoying. Still, the book holds great re-reading value, and we both enjoyed it.
I’ve discovered a new neat thing. Letterboxes. You may have heard of them, but I never have. They’ve been around since 1854 (according to letterbox lore).
It’s kind of like old-timey geocaching. Legend has it that a bloke in Dartmoor, England left his calling card in a jar in a remote spot, with a note directing anyone who found it to leave their card as well.
Considering the lack of Nintendo Wii and Internet, this was a pretty fantastic way for people to enjoy themselves, so the idea caught on, and more people began leaving other letterboxes throughout the moor. There was a catalog of clues, but you had to find enough letterboxes on your own to get ahold of it, which is why it took so long for the fad to spread beyond Dartmoor.
Smithsonain magazine ran an article [full text] about the British fad in April of 1998, and by the end of April, letterboxes began springing up in the U.S.
At this point, how it works is you have a blank book, a stamp of your own, the clue and maybe a compass. You get clues from Letterboxing.org, and go have an adventure. Many of the letterboxes are in a natureful area, although I can think of one letterbox that isn’t.
When you find a letterbox, there will be a book inside for you to stamp your personal stamp on (the modern-day equivalent of leaving a calling card. Or you could make up calling cards, which would be very Heathcliff of you) and you take the site stamp to your personal book. WoOt.
Unlike geocaching, you don’t NEED to have a GPS unit. And you get to take constitutional strolls. I used to be into orienteering as a Girl Scout (I secretly want to set up an orienteering course some day when I own land) and I like that the clues are either riddles “the book who’s name the owl can pronounce”, or by orienteering.
And since I’m living in a new area, this is a spectacular way to explore. And I get to make a stamp! And collect things, like country stamps in a passport!
This is a nonfiction post, and here is my source:
Randy Hall (2004). The Letterboxer’s Companion. ISBN 0-7627-2794-2
There’s been a recent discussion, in my e-world, about children’s books online. Could you blog a continuing picture book for children? Sure – there are blog comics and stories that exist, and children’s stories are usually compact in their plot and have lots of pictures anyway.
That’s when someone mentioned an Email Mystery. It’s a mystery story, told in emails, but instead of reading a bound book of emails (I just finished Donorboy, which has a lot of emails-as-narrative) it’s actual emails sent to your inbox, every day. It’s called The Daughters of Freya, and it’s sent, 4-5 installments a day, over three weeks. The plot seems to involve a sex cult, so it’s probably pretty interesting (if not actually good).
I love that it’s parceled out, so you can’t stay up till 4 a.m. ravishing it. Inherently, it gives you time to think about the plot. It’s $5. I think I may have to try it out. And then maybe write my own?
This just in from Hottt Karla: “B.E.T. PSA causing controversy–the creators say it’s aimed for an older audience; parents are pissed”
I did laugh out loud, so it is funny. Satire, even. And I can’t argue with the message. Read a book, brush your teeth, buy land, put on a little deoderant – these are all things that make life better.
This is completely not worksafe.
Those of you who live in WP now may know this, but there’s a covert spy store in your midst. Not only is it called The Boring Store, but it also functions as a front for 826 Chicago – a creative writing and tutoring center. Hottt! (And if I happen to move back to Chicago, I will totally volunteer there.)
I know about this because I had just learned about the Superhero Store, the front for 826 NYC. As I am contemplating becoming a superhero, it was cool to learn about.
Speaking of, I’m having a terrible time deciding on a superhero name. It’s like any nickname – you shouldn’t have to choose it yourself. Any ideas?
It’s a booky week. I’ve been completely taken in by Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. I’ve been jabbering about it to anyone who will listen that it’s going to be as big as Harry Potter (except not for boys or younger kids) and just as engrossing.
That’s what I miss about HP. I want to be engrossed in a story. The only downside of Twilight is that it’s a much more emotional book. (This is why it’s not really appropriate for younger kids. It’s not vulgar or violent, but it’s all about the angst and lurve.) The descriptions of serious break-uppy feelings were enough to make me hurt. I am curious what readers who haven’t been in a love-and-lost situation feel about it.
Anyway, the point is that Twilight is the first thing Stephenie Meyers wrote. And my own, personal Stephanie just sent me the manuscript for her very first novel. And just now I read a hilarious blog post about the dangers of smoking drugs (and self publishing). It’s called “Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say NO to Drugs”.
I may need to turn one of the illustrations into a teeshirt.
Yahoo Games has a bunch of wordy games. When I worked at Schmabbot, and sat in front of a computer with nothing to do, I’d play. My Scrabble/Boggle abilities became enhanced.
So why not become addicted to a word game? It’s good for your brain. Here, play Boggle against lots of people, and make up word.
Yesterday was the first day of school for most of the area. It was nice to have the routine of only little kids coming in to my domain during the day, and a concentration of school-age kids after 3. I noted that of all the kids who came in, every single seventh grader announced to me that they were now in seventh grade. I thought that was pretty funny.
As much fun as summer vacation was, I’m glad to have some quiet time to catch up. I’m in the process of ordering some new toys and furniture for the kids room. We have a crate of donated toys, and plush things are really hard to keep clean. I’m looking for some fun stuff that would also make it though a dishwasher cycle.